Our Kitchen Restaurant and Spring Asparagus Pizza with Blue Apron

This post is sponsored by Blue Apron.

Last week, Lainey helped me turn our kitchen into a restaurant for some dinner fun with Blue Apron. I realized there are four words which quickly transform making dinner from chore to fun: “Hey, wanna play restaurant?” Menu-making, sign-designing and table-setting immediately followed along with delegations for dinner prep roles. I did not make supervisor.

It also helped that the ingredients for our meal and easy instructions for preparing it arrived on our doorstep in our Blue Apron refrigerated box earlier that day–and thanks to this week’s recipe, completely changed the way I’ll make pizza. We’ve always followed the basic pizza method of red sauce/mozzarella/pepperoni, but the pizza gods enlightened in the form of Spring Asparagus Pizza. I didn’t think I’d like the asparagus on pizza, but with the lemony ricotta mixture, it was amazing. And our simple salad had a tangy dressing that balanced it all perfectly.

Spring Asparagus Pizza with Butter Lettuce & Pea Tip Salad

1 1/2 pounds pizza dough
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 bunch asparagus
1 red onion
1 lemon
1 bunch basil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons asparagus pizza spice blend (Italian seasoning & garlic powder–use half for pizza and half for salad)

Salad

1 head butter lettuce
2 ounces pea tips
2 tbs red wine vinegar
1 shallot
(other half of Italian seasoning + garlic powder mixture)

Prepare ingredients and preheat oven to 475° F. Like always, our farm-fresh pizza ingredients came in just the right proportions (no waste!).
Wash and dry produce. Snap off and discard the tough, woody ends of the asparagus; cut the asparagus into 2-inch pieces.

Lainey snapped the asparagus…
(I tape butcher paper to our table for anything that makes a big mess now because it makes clean-up with kid helpers so easy–just leave all the scraps, roll up paper and throw away.)

…and was able to follow the recipe on her own thanks to easy directions and step-by-step photos.

Combine ricotta cheese, half of spice blend, and juice of the entire lemon (cut into 4 wedges). Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Lightly oil a large sheet pan. Gently stretch the dough to  a 1/4-inch thickness and transfer to oiled sheet pan. Carefully rub the dough into the pan to oil the bottom. Spread the lemon ricotta onto the dough. Top with the asparagus and as much the onion (sliced) as you’d like. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper. Look at that creamy ricotta mixture!

Pause for menu creation. Very important step.

Bake, turning halfway through, 14-16 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Remove from oven and let stand for at least 2 minutes before serving. Garnish with basil.

I love “Pizza Ria.” I mean, it makes perfect sense. Also note: the tiny bottle of antibacterial wash for her dad. She knows him well.

Brett fell in love with this easy salad dressing: Mix the red wine vinegar with the rest of the spice blend and add the shallot, minced. Season with salt and pepper and whisk in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Just before serving, combine the pea tips and lettuce and coat with vinaigrette mixture.

The pizza was divine. The whole family loved it–the kids, with the asparagus and onion pulled off (hey, we tried), but Brett and I loved the toppings. Other than the ease of cooking, my favorite thing about Blue Apron is how it’s challenged our family to explore new tastes.

The first 100 readers will get 2 meals off their first Blue Apron order free when you sign up here.

Blue Apron has many more delicious chef-created recipes we’re anxious to try. Next on our summer list: Thai Chicken Meatballs and
Pan-fried Orange Shrimp.

Thank you Blue Apron!